Mai Tai Butterfly

Slicing open the afternoon mail rips apart Nola Stevens' secure- but tedious-life in Seattle. Twenty-three years ago, she moved from her father's house to her husband's house, barely pausing to attend her high school graduation. But now her marriage is over. Her ex-husband's moved on to something else entirely-leaving Nola parked on her friend Malia's sofa bed until further notice. When Malia's summoned home to Maui for her father's seventy-fifth birthday luau, she persuades Nola to come along. Hawaii astounds her-non-stop sunshine, aloha spirit, and fresh fruit cheaper than canned. And then there's the half-naked sculptor who keeps sneaking up behind her. "Mai Tai Butterfly" is a three-fold love story: a love of place, of a man, and the love that makes the other two possible. Living aloha is the best revenge. JoAnn Bassett grew up in Seattle, but always preferred palm trees to pine trees. She started a business and raised a son, hoping someday to make a day at the beach an everyday event. In 1996, she and her husband bought a home on Maui and loved every minute they spent there. She now lives in Southern Arizona, a shift from palms to saguaros. She thinks of Maui often, and enjoys writing about life on what's been called "the most idyllic island in the Pacific."